On Media

Chris Christie attacks New York Times

In an e-mail sent to supporters and obtained by POLITICO, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie attacked the New York Times for "sloppy reporting," our colleague Mike Allen reports.

"A media firestorm was set off by sloppy reporting from the New York Times and their suggestion that there was actually 'evidence' when it was a letter alleging that 'evidence exists.'" the e-mail said. "Forced to change the lead almost immediately, the Times was roundly criticized, and its editor was forced to issue this extraordinary statement to the Huffington Post."

On Friday, the New York Times changed the lede of its explosive story about former New York Port Authority official David Wildstein. Whereas the original story and breaking news alert stated that Wildstein has the evidence to prove Christie knew about the George Washington Bridge lane closings when they were happening, the new version says "evidence exists."

Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha said in an email that the paper regularly edits breaking news stories and "only note changes if the edit involved a correction." Times metro editor Wendell Jamieson told the Huffington Post's Michael Calderone that they've "made probably dozens of changes to the story to make it more precise. That was one of them. I bet there will be dozens more."